In the fast food business, as well as in numerous other types of businesses, it is desirable to have an attractive container in which to provide products to customers. It is also important to have such a container which is easily and readily assembled. It is also desirable to have such a container which latches automatically and securely when the container is closed. It is also desirable to have such a container which is light in weight. It is also desirable to have such a container which can be efficiently stacked or nested in quantities. It is also desirable, particularly in the fast food business, to have a container which has good thermal insulation qualities. It is also desirable to provide such a container which can be rapidly and effectively produced by simplified mechanisms.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a container which has the characteristics set forth above.
Another object of this invention is to create such a container which may be constructed of corrugated "E-flute" material, so that the container has greater strength, less warpage, more consistent shape, and has better thermal insulation capability than flat solid sheet material.
Other objects and advantages of this invention reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, the method of production and the mode of use, as will become more apparent from the following description.
The following United States Patents contain disclosures of various cartons and containers. However, none of these patents discloses the structure or method of this invention: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,648,549, 4,655,366, 4,655,386, 4,662,559, 4,676,428, 4,676,430, 4,679,726, 4,684,058, 4,688,673, 4,688,675, 4,712,728, 4,744,507.